The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 20 - Pro Bono Work

Allegra:

The woods. What a horror-movie-style cliche. After managing to catch myself on the second story ledge, breaking my descent to the ground, I managed to find myself on the grass without any broken bones. But that was only half the challenge. The rest came when I had to track down whoever was screaming.

With the sounds of gunshots and chaos back at the base, I found myself heading into the trees. Roots and dirt and the thicket threatened to trip me every few feet. The moon might have given me some light but the leaves and branches were making it difficult to see, and it would take a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was almost like playing hide and seek with my sister as kids, when we would yell at each other from our hiding places to give hints on how close or far away we were.

There were at least two men involved, and one woman who was doing the majority of the screaming and cursing. From the proximity of the voices, I guessed that I was closing in. I slipped my gun back out of its holster, ready for whatever I was about to walk into.

I didn't expect a second woman, and I didn't expect them to be putting up such a good fight. The darker haired woman was closer. She kicked out with her feet, getting a powerful hit between his legs and buying herself a second of time as he stumbled back swearing loudly. I recognized her as she turned and reached for the gun laying nearby on the forest floor.

Eliana.

She couldn't see the man rise up again behind her, reaching for his own holstered weapon and preparing to take aim at her small figure. I could get there first. I knew that I could. Every muscle in my body tensed, pushing me towards her. She was already unsteady, it was almost no effort at all to knock her off her feet. Eliana crumbled into the ground underneath me as I felt the bullet fly by my neck. Keeping her behind me as I rose up on to one knee, I leveled my gun in time to return fire, thanking whatever gods may be that I was a dead shot. Each of my three bullets found their targets, and each of the three men hit the ground.

None of them got up, and I stared at their lifeless bodies as I addressed the woman laying sprawled out underneath my feet. "Damn, Alessio is going to have his hands full trying to obsessively keep you safe."

A groan of pain escaped her throat, but I knew she would rather have a slightly bruised shoulder rather than die by a bullet. She rolled over onto her back slightly to look up at me. Her words were playful but I could see the real relief at her situation. "To be fair, I wasn't the one in trouble. I just decided to help her, she's the real magnet for danger."

Her gesture brought my attention to the young woman laying across the clearing from us. I hadn't met her before, I would have remembered. She was pretty, and based on the way that she shoved away the man who had fallen on top of her, she was fiery and rather independent. Especially as she insisted, "I had it under control."

I couldn't help the smirk that pulled at my lips, fueled by the irony of the whole situation, "I really don't think that you did. You're both going to be trouble. But sometimes that's the most fun."

As the two of them stumbled to their own feet I took a closer look at the three men I had just taken out. There was no remorse, of course, but I wanted to confirm that they were the same Russian men that I had been working my way past inside. Sure enough, they were wearing the same type of clothing, holsters, and carrying the same guns.

I turned back to them as the new woman gestured to Eliana and then myself, "And thanks to both of you, I'm still alive."

"My pleasure. It's Allegra, by the way," I nodded and reached out my hand to her, figuring that I may as well acquaint myself with the woman I had just murdered for.